The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 to promote international cooperation. The UN was founded by 51 nations and replaced the failed League of Nations after World War II. Its objectives are the maintenance of international peace, the promotion of friendly relations between nations and social and economic progress. Since its establishment, the UN has grown to 193 total members, with only 3 nations excluded for political reasons. Over the past 68 years, the United Nations has succeeded in numerous ways, such as preventing war, maintaining peace and providing humanitarian assistance. However, the United Nations has also failed on numerous fronts due to political disagreement among its member countries, particularly among the five permanent nations in the Security Council. The Parliament of Man by Paul Kennedy is an extremely informative and comprehensive book on the United Nations. The book continually references the original UN Charter to provide historical context to the reader, reminding them of the immense challenges that were present in 1945. In the first chapter, Kennedy provides a broad overview of the origins of the United Nations, examining the multiple conferences between the United States and the Soviet Union and how compromises were reached before the signing of the Charter in San Francisco. Next, Kennedy delves into the evolution of the UN from its initial founding to the organization today. Subsequent chapters are organized thematically rather than chronologically. While this does not allow readers to have a sequential view of the entire UN, it does allow readers to immerse themselves in individual agencies within the UN. According to Kennedy, the United Nations has… half the paper… world leaders are willing to acknowledge the underlying cracks in its foundation. In his book, The Parliament of Man, Kennedy sheds light on everything the United Nations has done, from the extraordinary successes to the worst failures. Throughout the book, Kennedy tries to provide the reader with as much information as possible regarding the past, present, and future of the United Nations. The United Nations was founded 68 years ago, however the world has changed immensely since then. To survive as an international organization, changes need to be made. Kennedy provides several suggestions on how to keep the UN as a relevant organization in an ever-changing world, but he also recognizes that Security Council leaders will always be reluctant to share power. Overall, Kennedy provides a strong and thorough history of how the United Nations came to take on its modern form.